Bruce Wayne
Batman, known as "Gotham's Black Knight", is the secret identity of Gotham socialite Bruce Wayne. With skills gathered from every corner of the world, the caped crusader fights through the dark, muddy streets of Gotham, opposed by the Gotham mafia and the corruption of the Gotham police, though he refuses to kill. Biography Origin Bruce Wayne was born to Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the age of 8, the family went to go and see an opera, though young Bruce was frightened by the bat-like costumes worn by the actors, so instead they went to go and see The Mask of Zorro. On their way to the movie house, Bruce's parents were held up at gunpoint by a mugger named Joe Chill and were killed during the assault, leaving Bruce the sole survivor by a stroke of fate. He was rescued by young rookie police officer Private James Gordon who promises to help find the man who murdered Bruce's parents, however, the young Bruce made an oath to fight evil, in honor of his parents. Many failed to realize that Bruce was adopting skills and survival techniques from around the world during his adolescence, but none were wary that the teenage Bruce was at one point a member of the League of Shadows, an international clan of assassins run by Ra's Al Ghul. After being contacted by their representative Henri Ducard (the aliases of assassin David Cain), Bruce spent years honing his skills under "Ducard" and trained to achieve physical and mental perfection, in addition to his other accumulated skills made him the perfect warrior in body, mind, and soul. Bruce later returned to Gotham with the intention of joining the GCPD. But he saw that the police were corrupt and afflicted by the Gotham mo, so Wayne's school of thought fixed itself around scaring criminals, which he manipulated into his childhood fear of bats, taking on the alter ego of Batman. Career Batman's first mission was to take apart the Falcone-Maroni mob that had been controlling Gotham through their combined might. The Gotham Police Department was seeded with those allied to Falcone or Maroni, all except for one cop, Officer Jim Gordon, who Wayne remembered from his childhood as the only cop who offered him any sympathy on the night of his parents' murder. Batman convinced Gordon to assist him from within the force, routing crooked cops and identifying criminals who were under police protection. Batman eventually made a name for himself in Gotham, drawing the attention of a similar crime-fighter from Metropolis. The first encounter between Superman and Batman wasn't the last in that month, and this one ended the ugliest, as Superman left Batman with a broken arm after trying to force him to give up crime-fighting. Wayne stubbornly rejected Superman's idealistic direction, calling his powers a crutch. Superman had the advantage of being near indestructible over Batman, and using his super vision to learn Batman's identity. At the same time, however, Batman planted a tracking device on Clark, but the device itself was destroyed, since he had already detected the plant. Batman then revealed that he had previously conducted a background check on Superman and drawn comparisons between each of his appearances, whittling down the most rational identities of Superman to 3 potential candidates, and the only 1 of those candidates with enough to lose: Clark Kent. With both of their identities discovered, the two heroes eased into reluctant cease-fire, promising to let the other handle their own city. Bruce was very vehement about Kent's presence, feeling as though he was always watching, waiting for Batman to make his first mistake. Atlantis v. Themyscira The first cooperaiton between Batman and Superman began when an interegional conflict occured between Atlantis, a nation of merpeople, and Themyscira, a forbidden island of warrior women. The two nations each had lost a member of their royal circle after two separate murders, Queen Hipployta and Prince Garth. The United Nations was prepared to respond to these two warring nations with missile bombardment, but Superman appealed and tried to settle the conflict on his own. Batman used this window to approach the situation on his own, gathering evidence in secret from the locations of both murders. While on Themyscira the second time, he was spotted and captured by the Amazons who were already hostile over their Queen's murder, let alone a man appearing on Themyscira. Superman arrived in time to prevent Batman's beheading, and Batman explained that the murders weren't the result of either the Amazons, Atlanteans, or of suicides. The time that Superman had bought was already up, and so Princess Diana offered herself to the government of Man's World in exchange for sparing Themyscira destruction, and as a show of amnesty to the Atlanteans. Batman was dubious of this, believing that Diana was putting herself into a hole she would never crawl out of because someone powerful wanted either the Atlanteans to surface or for the Amazons to start a war. His suspicion was proven correct as Diana's jailers tortured information out of her during her captivity. Absolute Justice *Bruce works to discover the truth behind the murders of Hipployta and Prince Garth. Justice League *Wayne Industries secretly funds Justice League operations along with Queen and Kord Industries, the latter which openly and publicly support the JLA. Batman Beyond *50 years from the current timeline, Bruce Wayne will assist Terry McGinnis, the Batman of the future, during his career as part of the new generation of Justice League members. Personality As Bruce Wayne, Bruce is a socialite with a playboy rationale. He dates expensive women and plays high-risk games, buying low and selling high, portraying himself as a narcissistic richboy. This persona masks the true intelligence that lies within, so as not to betray Bruce's secret identity. As Batman, Bruce is stoic and concentrated. The driving force behind his vigilantism is the guilt behind his parent's murders and his desire to rid Gotham of crime and pollution. Affiliation Family *Thomas Wayne (Father) *Martha Wayne (Mother) **Ben Wayne (half-brother) *Alfred Pennyworth (Family Butler) *Terry McGinnis (cloned son) Group *'Justice League' *'Gotham City Police Department' Powers & Abilities Tech *'Gadgets': Bruce Wayne has studied the properties and tools of shinobi, huntsmen, and traditional hunters and predators, and uses their designs to create his own crime-fighting materials, initially including: **Batarangs - inspired by nina shurikens. **Smoke Bombs **Batclaw - A grappling-hook device capable of suspending and transporting one or three people. *'Equipment' **Batsuit **Utility Belt *'Transportation' **Batwing - Batman's personal fighter jet, designed and funded by Wayne Industries. **Batcycle - A miniature "Batmobile" designed for higher mobility and less defense. **Batmobile - based off a military-contracted tank project that was scrapped and recuperated by Wayne Industries, becoming Batman's personal transportation and outfitted with Bat-equipment. Skills *'Martial Arts' - Batman was trained in the martial arts by multiple teachers; including Lady Shiva, Ra's Al Ghul, and Richard Dragon. *'Swordsmanship' - Bruce practiced swordplay under the tutelage of the League of Shadows. *'Ninjitsu' - He also studied the principles of ninjitsu during his time with the League. *'Detective Skills' - Bruce wields a gifted intellect, studied criminal science when he went abroad in his adolescence, even spent some time in the FBI. His mind impressed Ra's Al Ghul and "sponsored" Bruce's training with the League, as Ra's intended for Bruce to become his successor. Forces Intelligence: Batman is considered the world's best detective. His mind was coveted by Ra's Al Ghul who wanted to turn Bruce into the League's next leader, and marry his daughter, Talia, to Bruce. Willpower: Bruce, though lacking super powers, displays an almost "superhuman" force of will. Disciplines: Bruce Wayne was trained by several masters and studied their disciplines, including: *David Caine (Assassin techniques) *Lady Shiva (Martial arts) *Zatara (Escapism) *Jim Gordon (Criminal investigation techniques) Weaknesses *As a regular human, Batman has know super powers and is susceptible to common illnesses, conventional damage, and can be killed by extreme conditions. Alternate Identities *Matches Malone *Bruce Wayne *Batman of Zur-En-Arrh